# How to Access Information about a Droplet using the Metadata API

DigitalOcean Droplets are Linux-based virtual machines (VMs) that run on top of virtualized hardware. Each Droplet you create is a new server you can use, either standalone or as part of a larger, cloud-based infrastructure.

[Metadata](https://docs.digitalocean.com/reference/api/metadata/index.html.md) is a DigitalOcean service that allows a Droplet to access data about itself.

[DigitalOcean Metadata API Reference](https://docs.digitalocean.com/reference/api/metadata/index.html.md): Complete reference documentation for the Metadata API for Droplets.

Droplets can access the metadata service using the special, static, link-local IP address `169.254.169.254`. This allows you to use the same commands on different Droplets without needing to change the destination IP address.

## Access Droplet Metadata

You can query the metadata API from a Droplet by sending an HTTP GET request to a metadata endpoint. For example, this `curl` command sends an HTTP GET request to the top level of a Droplet’s metadata endpoint, `/metadata/v1/`:

```shell
curl http://169.254.169.254/metadata/v1/interfaces/public/0/ipv4/address
```

This returns an index of the available Droplet metadata:

```
id
hostname
user-data
vendor-data
public-keys
region
interfaces/
dns/
floating_ip/
tags/
```

You can think of this index like a directory listing. Items in the index without a trailing slash represent data, and items with a trailing slash are nested indexes. You can further `curl` into the indexes to see more entries.

For example, you can retrieve the Droplet’s public IPv4 address:

```shell
curl -s http://169.254.169.254/metadata/v1/interfaces/public/0/ipv4/address
```

Full documentation of the metadata service and its endpoints are available in the [Droplet metadata API reference](https://docs.digitalocean.com/reference/api/metadata/index.html.md).